Sapient Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 19,619 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 19,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,357,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Talbot Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% during the third quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 47,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,097,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $987,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 5,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.6% during the third quarter. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. now owns 4,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 17,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,962,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $196.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $170.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.26. The stock has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 81.50%.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.